If I was incharge I would lock up these crackers for couple of days and scare the s h i t of them.
Anyone with little common sense would know what to do in certain situations. Not only they risked their lifes but also put 150 more lives plus unknown number on ground and the economical impact of the whole farse.
Though, it does gives an impression that the passengers were racially profiled, one also needs to look at the other reasons that lead the crew to make such a decision. There is no doubt that the recent news have created a kind of negative impression on our Islamic friends as a whole. Many a group of people are spooked by the thought of another terror attack. So, when the passengers of this flight did not pay attention to the crew and did not comply with the requests, it is only natural to imagine the worst and freak out. I think, anyone would have felt the same way, when you are in mid-air. So, it might not be necessary to blow this news out of proportion and create more hatred amongst ourselves.
If those Islamic friends of ours who were arrested, did comply to all the rules and requests but still were suspected and arrested, then may be there is a point of concern. As of now, one needs to be calm and composed and not create any unnecessary hungama.
But, i do understand their anger....regardless of religion, anyone singled out like that would feel the same way. Hopefully, this does not lead to any other clashes.
If you dont know how to behave, why blame racial things? as seen from the website news if all those 12 guys were asked to behave properly and they dint follow the instructions ...why get racisim in picture however the sad story continues most of them seem to be muslims so now people in India especially politically driven non-muslims will show brotherly love Hum sab ek hain and all etc etc....but why the heck they dint behave properly? What Airline officials did was right it was for safety...
Two incidents. 1. In St.Louis airport, when i was taking a flight to India, they pulled ONLY ME aside. Took me to a covered area and did a pat down. And also they were checking my belt to see if there were any bombs.
2. In swiss Zurich airport. I was the only one who was asked to take my shoes off in the security check.
Now the above two may seem insignificant but it greatly affects your morale and make you feel humiliated when you are the ONLY ONE out of a queue of hundred people taken out to check.
RE:HAVE I EVER??TWICE
by Raghav on Aug 25, 2006 05:18 PM Permalink
Only one? Are you sure? Wow, you must have had a lot of patience to wait and confirm that none of the others were picked up for screening!
If I were sensible, I would not mind an extra check if that helps even a little bit towards safety...Remember, its also your safety!
RE:HAVE I EVER??TWICE
by venkatrajan on Aug 28, 2006 12:28 PM Permalink
Yeah, I have many experience like this across the world. You would be the only Asian (subcontinent) in the line and you are asked to go through extra checks. It has happened couple of times in the US and many many times in Asian countries. Sometimes you feel hurt..But since most of the unfortunate events originate from either people from Middle east or subscontinent, they are scared and hence they react like that. It is like a natural human tedency to beat a snake (whether it is harmful or not). We should rather curse terrorist attacks and develop a sense of being ourselves fair and not indulge in anything that could create rift in our society rather than worry about individual incidents. I have developed such a frame of mind - suggest you also to. venkatrajan
RE:HAVE I EVER??TWICE
by Joseph Maprayil on Aug 25, 2006 05:28 PM Permalink
Dont reach at check in so early always!
If at all you reach that early, be amongst the first ones to check in!
If you reached early, then waited a couple of hours watching the security check of other people, and joined the queue at the tail, you definitely deserve special treatment.
RE:HAVE I EVER??TWICE
by Jay on Aug 25, 2006 10:33 PM Permalink
What useless postings by Raghav and Jospeh here - didnt you morons get what that person was saying. You are just interested in making mockery - werent u - n so pathetic that it didn even make us laugh.. get a life..
I have experienced this situation a couple of times while traveling in 2002, but I strongly feel that there is nothing to be offended about. In the KLM aircraft episode, it was a coincidence that the 12 passengers who were held and later released were muslims. I am sure the crew must have reacted in the same way even if passengers from some other religion or race were behaving that way.
Everyone needs to understand that the security folks and crew are just doing their duty and not there to harass us.
I have been staying in US for some times and have made number of domestic trips within US and also international trips. I have never felt any kind of issues . I have always carried my laptop and avoided carrying anything in handbag that can be suspicious. Actually, security people always look for something unusual. My experience have been very pleasant. While I have seen white americans being frisked in front of me, I never had any such problem. So, We cannot say it directly if there is any racism , at least , not from my personal experiences
From what I remember, the Malayalee Film Crew was detained because they did not follow cabin crew instructions to be seated during the approach into NYC. This was soon after 9/11 and strict rules were in place.
Apparently some (all?) of the crew were coming to NYC for the first time and were excited about the sights and kept going from one set of windows to the opposite side to enjoy the view.
They were not detained just because they were speaking an "alien" language.
I travel a lot in the US and I have never felt that I was singled out for checking.
In fact I am bothered that there is no racial / religious profiling! I would not mind being subjected to extra checks if it would help to significantly reduce the risk of these crazy people taking over planes!!!
RE:yep
by Raghav on Aug 25, 2006 05:14 PM Permalink
Hmm...can't disagree with you more. The 12 guys were suspected not because they were Asians but because they were stupid enough to use their cell phones during takeoff.
You were not allowed to do this even pre-9/11. These days, when the threat level is high, if they did something like that not listening to the cabin crew hmmm, I wonder if anything unjust was done.
Recalling a flight, rebooking passengers, all this costs. Personally, I feel safe that an airline is willing to go to this extent to ensure the safety of all passengers!
